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Sell More Books With a Powerful Back Cover

Are you an author who is just about ready to publish your first book? Are you a veteran author, but find your books are not really selling and you really cannot figure out why your books are not selling as well as you hoped, after all it is what is inside that counts right? Well, yes the content inside does count but put yourself in the shoes of your readers.

When you walk into a book store or any store for that matter, what is the first thing that brings you to pick up the book in the first place? Is it the title? No, probably not. Is it the summary? Of course, not, you do not see that until you pick up the book. Is it the author’s name? Perhaps, but generally not. Is it the book cover? YES, it sure is.

More than any other thing, the book cover is what draws the reader's attention to even pick the book up. So what can you do to make more professional book covers?

There are three general aspects of a book cover, the front, the back, and the spine. Each, need to have specialized attention, in order to prompt a potential reader to look at your particular book.

Lets look at what we can do to make the three aspects of our book stand out and deserve a look over.

The Front Cover:

While there are many different techniques you can use on your front book cover, some of the most popular is embossing, foil stamping, and holographic foils. Each has their own distinct attractiveness and when used properly can really make your book stand out. It is important that you make the front book cover attractive, but do not over do it. Detail is great and most detail placed on the front cover tells a little something about the store on the inside pages. But you do not want to scare the reader off, therefore use tact and taste when designing the front cover.

The Back Cover:

After the reader picks up the book and looks at the front cover, if the interest is there, the first thing they will do is flip it over and look at the back cover. This is where the reader will really make the decision as to rather or not the book is worth their time and money. Therefore, this requires some attention and care as well. Keep the word count to a maximum of seventy words. The back cover should give them information about the book, not information about the author. A good place for author information is on the inside of the back cover.

The Spine:

The spine of the book cover is the first thing seen when sitting on a bookshelf, usually. The spine should be both easy to read and attractive to stand out among the hundreds of books it sits with. You see the thing is, you have a large amount of competition when it comes to luring readers to the book. Each and every author is trying to get the same results, readership and sales. So therefore, you have to give the customer a reason to pick up your book. A solid, easy to read, extremely clear, but attractive book cover spine is just the solution.

Did you know that your book's back cover information is, after the cover, the best way to sell more books? And, that most authors, emerging and experienced, miss this opportunity to engage more potential buyers?

Your book's front cover and sizzling title must impress your buyers in four seconds. If they like it, they will spend eight seconds on your back cover ( mini sales letter)-a great opportunity to convince them that your book is necessary for their success.

Does your back cover pass the test?

Five Best Solutions to the Biggest Book Back Cover Mistakes

1. Mistake: Too many non-powerful words and too busy to have a focus.

Solutions: A back cover of 6 by 9 inches should have under 70 words. Use sound bites; picture and emotional words; benefits, not features; and testimonials to capture your readers' attention and to keep your message focused. Make every word count and be willing to get five-fifteen edits, because the outside of the book's message is 10 times more powerful than the inside pages.

2. Mistake: Too much superfluous material on the back cover. Do you have too long an author's bio or large photo? Potential buyers want to know how the book will help them, teach them a skill, or entertain them.

Solutions: Write only a one or two-line bio on the back cover. Put your photo and more bio on the inside of the back cover. Omit features such as format information, which belong in the book's introduction. Connect with your buyer emotionally with specific, powerful ad copy. For self-help books use bullets with specific benefits, and enough of the right kind of testimonials to sell your book in 8 seconds. For fiction, modify to include a bit of plot, with a powerful quote or dialogue. Use bookstore models to assist you.

3. Mistake: Repeating the book's title at the top of the back cover.

Solutions: Since your potential buyers already know the title and are stimulated enough to look at the back cover, hook them with an emotional question or benefit-driven headline at the top. This "Hot Headline" includes your best benefit and should compel your reader to buy.Notice the headlines in your newspaper. Visit your bookstore and notice other best selling authors' headlines. "What's So Tough About Writing?" by wordsmith Richard Lederer, author of The Write Way; "Imagine Being an Author, in Dan Poynter's Writing Nonfiction; or "To Age is Natural...To Grow Old is Not!" heads Rico Caveglia's "Ageless Living" back cover.

4. Mistake: Omitting testimonials.

Solutions: Testimonials sell more books than any other information on the back cover. Put three or four up. Contact a variety of people. Use one from a top professional in your field, one from a satisfied reader, one from a celebrity who cares about your topic, and one from a famous media person.

In her book, "A Kick in Your Inspiration", Ruth Cleveland got one testimonial from an exconvict! Jacqueline Marcell, author of "Elder Rage," took eight months to get forty testimonials from celebrities. Her book is endorsed by: Steve Allen, Ed Asner, Dr. Dean Edell, Dr. John Gray, Dr. Nancy Snyderman/ABC, Regis Philbin.

Jacqueline Bisset, and Phyllis Diller it was worth the effort, because in April, 2001, she made the cover of the AARP Bulletin distributed to over 35 million readers. It included a feature story, some how-tos and contacts and large pictures of the author and her book. She had to dance fast, and order 10,000 books to get distributed by the time the piece came out. After it came out, she was inundated with speaking engagements. There's a problem you might love to have!

After you write several books and become rich and famous, you, like other professionals, will fill your back cover with testimonials. You won't even need to add benefits, because people have already bought your other books and liked them. Potential buyers will purchase when they see people they trust and know recommend the book. Besides filling the back cover with testimonials, you may want to even add extra testimonials in the front pages of the book. The more testimonials, the better! for more information, contact the book coach.

5. Mistake. Independent publishers submitting galleys to reviewers, distributors, and wholesales without ANY back cover information.

Solutions: People who may help the author want the back cover! Make the back cover your first area of concern, "says Susan Howard, Director of Consulting Services at top publishing firm, The Jenkins Group Inc., who write "The Publishing Connection" She adds, "Waiting for testimonials is generally the reason the back cover of a galley is left blank.

Failure to realize the value of the back cover seems to equate with the failure to realize that the text for the finished back cover can always be changed before the printing of the book."

It's important for writers to "market while they write"-- To make each part of their book sell copies. Your book's back cover is all-important.

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Judy Cullins: 20-year author, speaker, book coach Helps entrepreneurs manifest their book and web dreams eBk: "Ten Non-techie Ways to Market Online" www.bookcoaching.com/products.shtml Send an email to:subscribe@bookcoaching.com

FREE The Book Coach Says... includes 2 free eReports mailto: judy@bookcoaching.com